Tips For Talking To Kids About Race: Babies

The following will be a series of blog posts about how to introduce the concept of race in your home or classroom. We will start with the youngest ones and go from there. Each of the previous ages build on the other. You can always incorporate suggestions from a younger age. So even if you have a 6 foot tall teenager at home, check this section out and see how you can utilize some of these strategies now. Check back in a few days for the next age: Toddlers/Preschoolers. And don't forget to sign up for the newsletter to receive regular tips like these ones. Enjoy! 

Babies:
Yes! Even babies! In my previous post, I stated that even infants understand that race exists. Obviously, you will not be sitting your child down and talking to them about how racism manifests in our society. But you can open the door to conversations that are sure to come. At this age, it's all about exposure.

• Read books with a diversity of characters: This includes books that have characters of all races, characters with different religions, characters with two mommies, two daddies, single parents, foster children, adoptive families, families from different countries, multilingual books, etc.
• Sing songs/chants from other countries and cultures: Use Google and YouTube for this one. There are all kinds of great songs out there! Expose your child to songs with different beats, instruments, and ways of verbalizing. You never know what they'll end up liking!
• Take children to public spaces with a diverse population: Children learn so much by observation. In order for them to realize that there are so many different kinds of people, they need to actually see them! I realize that this one is more difficult for people who don't live in a big city like me, but any gathering space will likely have people of different races, religions, styles of dress, and hairstyles. Let your child see these differences!
• Bring a diversity of people to your home to interact with the baby: When you have a teeny tiny one, you often spend a lot of your time at home. Your friends often come to you instead of the other way around. Who are the people that you are having over? Who does your baby see is welcome in your home? This can send a very powerful message to your little one. Now, I am not saying that you should invite some random people over to your house with an infant if you don't really know them. That's just going to make everyone uncomfortable! But if the only people that ever come to the house are people that look like you, ask yourself why. How can you expand your level of comfort with people who are different from you? Can you make new parent friends of different races so as to model inclusiveness to your baby? Think about ways that you are stretch yourself-your baby will learn from that too!

I hope that this was a helpful list. Do you have other ideas? Post them in the comments below! And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter! Check back in a few days for tips for a slightly older set of kids-Toddlers & Preschoolers.